FPGA Developer Internship - 2025-26

At Optiver, FPGAs play a critical role in executing successful trades. With no external clients, we operate in a fast feedback, quick release environment. 

As a FPGA Developer Intern at Optiver, you’ll work alongside experienced hardware engineers to ensure we have the fastest and most reliable trading systems in the industry. You’ll constantly be innovating with new technology in the hardware space, ensuring our latency is optimised to nanoseconds.

By the end of the 10-week internship, you’ll have deepened your understanding of how technology is used in the quantitative trading industry. Plus, if you’ve excelled over the summer, you’ll receive an offer to return as a Graduate FPGA Developer.

What you’ll do

Led by our in-house education team that consists of ex-traders and engineers, you’ll delve into advanced engineering concepts and lead innovative projects, during our world-class training program. In just a few weeks, you’ll develop latency-critical applications that contribute towards our trading success.

During the internship, you will be paired with one of Optiver’s seasoned FPGA developers, providing you exposure to a variety of areas, including:

• Designing highly accurate and efficient systems that respond to the financial markets in real time.

• Accelerating network infrastructure and trading systems using the latest devices, tools and techniques.
• Developing rigorous test benches using a combination of VHDL and System Verilog.
• Exploring new mechanisms for faster data communication/processing to accelerate network infrastructure and trading systems.

Aside from technical skills, our dedicated education team will also work with you on your development, including:  

• Workshops on a variety of tech-based topics, along with soft skills to support your holistic growth as a developer.
• A dedicated mentor who will guide you through our development process and how our trading systems work.
• Trader training to get you up to speed on our business. This helps you understand the fundamentals of trading, enabling you to make an impact from the early stages of your Optiver career.

Read Vicky’s story to discover the exciting projects that you could work on during your FPGA internship. 

What you’ll get

You’ll join a culture of collaboration and excellence, where you’ll be surrounded by curious thinkers and creative problem solvers. Driven by a passion for continuous improvement, you’ll thrive in a supportive, high-performing environment alongside talented colleagues, working collectively to tackle the most complex problems in the financial markets.

In addition, you’ll receive:

• A highly competitive remuneration package.
• Optiver-covered flights and accommodation for the duration of the internship.
• The opportunity to work alongside best-in-class professionals.
• Training, mentorship and personal development opportunities.
• Gym membership, plus weekly in-house chair massages.
• Daily breakfast, lunch and in-house barista.
• Regular social events.

Who you are

• A penultimate university student. If you are a pre-penultimate university student, discover our 2025 FutureFocus program and apply today.
• An Australian or New Zealand Citizen, Australian Permanent Resident or able to provide evidence of full working rights.
• Studying an Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or similarly technical degree.
• Deeply passionate about technology, particularly FPGA development, and have a range of out-of-classroom projects or activities to prove it.
• Knowledgeable about HDL languages: VHDL and/or Verilog as well as some experience with Python and/or C++.
• Understand network protocols: Ethernet, IP, TCP/UDP.
• Familiar with FPGA logic elements, transceivers, memory and other on-chip resources
• Have some experience developing algorithms in software.
• Excited to create high-performance, low-latency designs that critically impact trading success.
• Keen to work alongside the best developers and traders in the industry, with the humility to continually upskill and improve yourself.

Optiver is committed to diversity and inclusion, and it is hardwired through every stage of our hiring process. We encourage applications from candidates from any and all backgrounds, and we welcome requests for reasonable adjustments during the process to ensure that you can best demonstrate your abilities.

Questions? Check out our Optiver Sydney Campus recruiting FAQs or get in touch with the team at careers@optiver.com.au.

We accept one application per role per year. If you have previously applied to this position during this season and have been unsuccessful, you can re-apply when the next recruitment season begins in 2026.